Union extends deal for Bennett

Hockey coach agrees to new contract through 2018-19

Pete Iorizz, Times Union

By Pete Iorizzo

Published 11:28 pm, Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Union College hockey associate head coach Rick Bennett announces that he is taking over as head coach, replacing Nate Leaman during a news conference at Union College in Schenectady Friday afternoon April 22, 2011. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union)

Not long after the Frozen Four, Union hockey coach Rick Bennett sat down with the school's athletic director and, mostly in one brief meeting, hammered out a contract extension that could keep him on the Schenectady campus through the 2018-19 season.

It was a no-brainer for both sides: Union secures the coach that brought the program within two wins of the national championship, and Bennett gets more time to pursue what he called "unfinished business."

"When I was at the Frozen Four, coaches gave me advice and said, 'Enjoy this, because you never know when you're going to be back,'" Bennett said Tuesday, the day the deal was announced. "That's not my way of thinking. I'd like to see this keep going."

The Dutchmen are coming off their second ECAC regular-season title, their first league championship and an NCAA Tournament run that ended with a semifinals loss to Ferris State. Their 26 wins tied a program record. And it all happened in Bennett's first season.

Though he'd been with the program since 2005 as an assistant and associate head coach, Bennett didn't take over until before last season, when Nate Leaman left for Providence. Bennett was the ECAC coach of the year and finalist for national coach of the year.

Those sorts of credentials could have made him a hot commodity on the job market. In fact, before singing his extension, Bennett had received overtures from several professional teams, he said.

"I just decided that I'm not a pro guy anymore," Bennett said. "Those days ended about 12 years ago. I'm honored to even have been in the mix with some of those, but to be honest with you, I'm just a college guy right now."

Bennett still had three years remaining on his previous contract, but the extension gives both him and the school added security.Union didn't disclose the financial terms of either agreement.

"I'm just so grateful," Bennett said. "It makes you want to come to the rink every day. There wasn't once in my seven years here that I woke up and didn't want to come to work — or even called it work. I get home and my kids say, 'How was work?' I laugh."

Union finished this past season ranked No. 3 in the country. It carries lofty expectations into next season, though the Dutchmen will be without leading scorer Jeremy Welsh, who signed with the Carolina Hurricanes, as well as graduating seniors Kelly Zajac and Nolan Julseth-White.

The Dutchmen will open their season Oct. 6 against Merrimack at Messa Rink.